Doggy Hot Dog Rolls

I was playing around with dough the other day seeing what shapes I could come up with. Monty-the-Labradoodle sat watching me with his calm, and sometimes unnerving, gaze. Looking at his face I had the idea to create these little rolls. They are simple to make and great fun for children. You could fill them with any kind of small sausage or perhaps with a fish finger. Monty loved the sausage that I used in the photo but wasn’t too bothered with the bun!

Ingredients

• 500g strong flour
• 1 packet fast-action dried yeast
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 350 – 370ml warm water
• 1 tin of cooked, black beans, well drained and patted dry with kitchen towel for eyes and nose.
• 1 egg beaten for glaze

Method

Add salt and dried yeast to flour but keep both separated. With a hand-held whisk, mix the dry ingredients thoroughly together. Now add water to achieve a soft dough. Turn out onto lightly floured surface, and knead for 6 minute to achieve an elastic shiny dough. Oil a medium-sized bowl, place dough inside, cover with a tea towel or Clingfilm, and allow to prove for 1 hour. Once proved, turn out onto work surface. Cut off 60g pieces until all dough is used up. This quantity will make 15-16 rolls.

Briefly knead each piece into a ball. Press down and flatten out slightly. Use a sharp pair of scissors to make incisions each side of ‘head’ to create ears (see photo). Place on a tray covered with non-stick parchment leaving 1 ½” space between each roll. With a small, pointed knife, make a small incision through dough to create 2 eyes, and one for the nose. Place a black bean into each incision.

Leave to rest for 20-30 minutes to rise. Heat oven to 180C/gas5. Brush buns with egg glaze and bake for 20 – 25 minutes in the pre-heated oven.

To serve, slice through front of roll to about 2/3rds back to create cavity. Press in a small piece of lettuce in ‘mouth’ and finally a cooked sausage. (Use slim sausages for these rolls. Normal sized sausages will be disproportionate to the size of the roll). See photos. Great fun to make with children, ideal for BBQs and picnics.

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